Poetry: Poems by the classic masters. Rhythm and Meter in English Poetry. Rhythm and Meter in English Poetry English poetry employs five basic rhythms of varying stressed (/) and unstressed (x) syllables. The meters are iambs, trochees, spondees, anapests and dactyls. In this document the stressed syllables are marked in boldface type rather than the tradition al "/" and "x. " Each unit of rhythm is called a "foot" of poetry. The meters with two-syllable feet are IAMBIC (x /) : That time of year thou mayst in me behold TROCHAIC (/ x): Tell me not in mournful numbersSPONDAIC (/ /): Break, break, break/ On thy cold gray stones, O Sea! Adam Had'em. Here are some more serious examples of the various meters. iambic pentameter (5 iambs, 10 syllables) That time | of year | thou mayst | in me | behold trochaic tetrameter (4 trochees, 8 syllables) Tell me | not in | mournful | numbers anapestic trimeter (3 anapests, 9 syllables) And the sound | of a voice | that is still dactylic hexameter (6 dactyls, 17 syllables; a trochee replaces the last dactyl) A note on the source.
Fire and Ice by Robert Frost. & Blog Archive & I'm not depressed. English 50. Poetry Primer. Poetry Primer: Looking at various types of poems Click on a small image to see the larger version of that image Additional Haiku Samples Poems: Haiku, Quatrain, Cinquain Back to Documents. C.K. Williams' poetry of youth and age. I carry your heart. &If& Rudyard Kipling. "Use Your Words" by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz. Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz performs "On Why I Still Slam" "Lit" as performed by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz in Page Meets Stage.